Excuses!

Is there something you don't like about your life right now? It could be your weight, your house, your job, your financial situation... whatever it is, I have great new. Are you ready?

"I'm ready!"

You can change it!

Wow. Did you hear that? Let me say it again:

You can change it!

It just takes a series of choices, one after another.

 

Today I want you to make a list. I want you to list 5 things that you want to be different in your life.

 

Then, I want you to list possible solutions. Be careful (and aware) of any excuses that pop into your brain:

"That's too expensive."

"I'm too old."

"I don't have enough time."

 

Those "excuses"? Don't write them down. Focus on SOLUTIONS. Yes, you may in a situation where you can't change things right now. Your job, your financial situation, and other things may take time to change. But they *can* change?

And you can take steps toward change today. They can be small, but a step of any size is still a step, and it will get you closer to your goal.

If you'd like to share your list below, you can. Or you can keep it to yourself. But do me (and yourself) a favor, and make that list. Make a difference in your life, and take those steps TODAY!

(Source)

Things that happened this week...

This week was one of my busiest weeks of the year. In addition to my awesome librarian-ing, and my Beachbody Coaching, I've also been known to be a piano accompanist. I get a chance every semester to use those accompanying skills (and therefore two of my three degrees) when I accompany music students in their "juries". Juries are end of semester performance exams. They sound scary, and I guess they were scary to me back in the early 90s, but now they're just a fun chance for me to remember I'm a musician and make some money.

This is what I look like sitting at a piano.

But, doing this required working a lot of time outside my regular job. Monday I was at school for 13 hours. I missed a few lunchtime workouts because I worked through them to catch up on work.

So I had to accept this one not going to be one of my most successful fitness weeks ever.

I wanted to review, so I can go into next week in a "more likely to succeed" frame of mind.

Things that happened this week:

1. I ran 3 times. (2 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles). That was consistent and I am happy with it.
2. My 2 toenails FINALLY fell off (they've been threatening to since the last half marathon in October).
3. I lifted weights twice at the gym.
4. P90X2 arrived.

And there was great rejoicing..

5. I didn't eat so great. I gave into fancy Starbucks Holiday cup drinks a few times.
6. I watched my son sit in Santa's lap and cried a little.

7. I drank Shakeology every day (no matter how badly I ate, I at least knew I was doing something right).(Yeah, I sell it, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.
8. My skin cleared up (which I think is due to number 7).
9. I slept very little (due to a grumpy, teething little girl, and probably a little stress).

My point to all of this is that there are times when you choose your goals. My fitness/weight loss/bodysculpting goals took a back seat this week to my other goals. I got lax. But I accept the consequences, and I know that if I want to GET better, I have to DO better.

This coming week will be amazing. I know it.


Hope you have a great week planned!

Choices

This is a girl with whom I'd like to talk about her choices. (Source)

"You're so lucky."
"I wish I was as thin as you."
"I wish I had your discipline."

I hear these things a lot. The bottom line is that I make choices. Sometimes I make good choices. Sometimes I make choices that are NOT so good. But I make choices, and I get the consequences. That's how that works.

I know that if I choose to go over my calories, or to eat some food that is off plan, I will reduce my results. If I'm aiming for weight loss, I may not achieve it. If I eat something gross, I'll feel gross. Choices have consequences.

So, I'm writing this not just to talk to those people who think I'm just "lucky". I'm writing to myself a little as well.

Don't forget the choices you make today will affect where you are tomorrow.

What choices are you making?

Vote for Brooke!

Friends,

I need to brag on my girl Brooke a little here. Brooke is a single mom. She is busy. She is an amazing cook. She is learning to cook for a child with food allergies. And, in the midst of all this, she has managed to make a very healthy change in her life.

Brooke started working out with Body Gospel, a Beachbody Program, a few months ago. She started tracking her nutrition, and has made amazing changes. Her changes have been so amazing that she has advanced into the Body Gospel Million Dollar Body Game as a finalist! She stands the chance to win $25,000!

Go here to vote

I am so incredibly proud of her, and want to give everyone the chance to vote for her and support her! So, click on the link above and vote for Brooke Lippy! You can vote once a day!

And, if you'd like to know more about the Body Gospel program, just check out this link:



Also, if you'd like to pass on some encouragement/cheers/congratulations for Brooke in the comments, I'll make sure she sees them!

Running Success Saturday!

This weekend, my scheduled "long run" was supposed to be 6 miles.

I wanted to go through the stages it took me to get to (and through) my run. I'm noticing a pattern:

Saturday morning:

My daughter usually wakes up when, or a few minutes after, I wake up. This makes it less-than-ideal for me to get up and do my run before the rest of the house is up, because she will most likely wake up my husband (and I want him to have at least one day to sleep in). Normally, I go running after he wakes up and has his coffee. This week, however, he had a ton of work to do, and I had a ton of housework, so he and I decided I would do it later in the afternoon. 

Oh no! I knew right then I would most likely come up with a million reasons why I shouldn't run.

We had planned to take the whole family to a friend's to have a family portrait taken. I knew this had the potential to be a bit tiring, but I just told myself I would keep planning my run no matter how it went. 

On the way home, both my husband and I were a little traumatized from the experience (but we did get a pretty good picture). I started whining: "My knees kind of hurt. My hip flexors feel funny. Maybe I should run tomorrow." My husband, bless him, told me to just do it. He said I would feel better afterwards (I'm so glad I married him).

We get home. I have a piece of Ezekiel toast and 2 hardboiled egg whites. I change into my running shoes. I see a million other things I need to be doing, but try not to get distracted.

I tell myself I'll just do 30 minutes.

Saturday Afternoon:

Oh no, it might get dark. I better not run very long.

Geez...

So, finally I get out the door. I say, "I'll be back in about an hour, or less, depending on whether or not it goes well." My husband says, "Have a good run."

I encounter a growling dog. I have a little bit of a fear of all dogs since the Great Dog Bite of 2011. This dog would NOT let me go, so I turn around and GROWL back at it. Finally, it loses interest.

I decided to do a run 4/walk 1 plan, where I run for 4 minutes then walk for 1 minute. I figure I can do that forever :-) 

I am not really sure how long it will take me to run 6 miles. I did the same plan last week for 60 minutes and ended up 5.18, so I figure I'll do somewhere around 70 minutes.

Well, I encountered several other dogs (I've got to get some pepper spray. That was a very expensive dog bite...) and made it to 60 minutes. I decided to do another 5 minute interval. Then, just so I could map easier, I decided to run all the way to the end of the street.

So, I go home, excited to see how far I've run, and it turns out to be 5.89 in 1:04:47). Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and count it as 6.

I enjoyed the run, I had a fun time, I felt TONS better about everything afterwards, and I still love running. I'm calling it a success.

Now I just need to decide if my "long" run next week should be 6 miles, or should I up it to 7? Sunday is my 37th birthday, so it would be nice to mark it with a significant milestone...

Question for the group:

- How long does my mileage need to be before I start taking an ice bath? I started to feel like I could benefit from it, but taking a bath on top of my hour away is a little iffy....

Everyone, have a great week! 

Sarah

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The Secret to Success is...

EUREKA! I’ve discovered the secret to success! I think it can be applied to almost any situation. Do you want to know what it is?

“Do it, even when you don’t feel like doing it.”

Wow.

You know how, in the days leading up to New Year’s, you make resolutions? You plan how this next year is going to be your best ever, and you can’t wait to get started.

I know I have done this. I’ve also lost interest when it got hard or inconvenient to do. I admit it.

I looked forward to running today for a week. I have been sick, but I knew that today, my kids would be at school and I would have the day off to run. I was very excited about this… last night.

However, this morning, I really had no desire to run at all. What I really wanted to do was get the kids off to school and go back to bed. I even tried to convince myself I didn’t need to run today…

But, luckily, reason prevailed, and I remembered no one ever reached a goal by just doing what they felt like. I got dressed, ate some ezekiel bread and peanut butter, brushed my teeth (Gomer running rule) and went out to run.

I talked myself into running a few minutes at a time. At first, I told myself I could stop at 20 minutes. Then 25. Then 30. I stopped a little past 30. I didn’t want to go more than that since I hadn’t run in over a week and a half (but the cool thing is, I felt like I *could* do more).

Of course, I was so glad I did it.

There are other, non-fitness related examples. I wanted to blow off working my business tonight and just go to bed. But, I told myself that successful people don’t just do it when they feel like it… and I did it.

My undergraduate major in college was in music performance. As a pianist, I had to practice. A LOT. A LOT A LOT A LOT. It was lonely. It was boring. I was often really tired. But I did it… even when I didn’t feel like it.

So, kids, there you have it: the secret to success.

What are some of your goals, and how can you move a little closer to reaching them today?

To your health,

Sarah

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(Originally published 1/17/2011)